2016 Worldbuilding Moderator Election

XandarTheZenon

00:29

I think it's going to be tough to decide who to vote for.

Monica Cellio

03:59

Heh. You need 300 rep to stand in an election, but there's still a concern about spamming:

Nahshon paz

07:25

Hi guys, would love to see (links to?) more moderation examples, I've seen a lot of Monica's and Tim B's work, for example (good job, in my opinion), but not a lot of the other nominees

bilbo_pingouin

9 nominations so far. including 2 mods :-)

@Nahshonpaz consider adding it on the meta discussion about questions to the mods.

overactor

How many mods will be elected?

Or is that not set in stone?

ArtOfCode

07:55

@Nahshonpaz hardwarerecs.stackexchange.com/users/8/artofcode works for mine

@overactor 4. Same as there are now.

overactor

@ArtOfCode I'd say 3 of those are essentially locks

Or rather, I'd guess.

Nahshon paz

I actually meant more debatable/specifically interesting mod examples. I'll never be able to find the time to go through all the comments of all the moderators.. Unfortunately :-)

ArtOfCode

The three original pro tems?

@Nahshonpaz I'd show you all the times I've dealt with problematic users, but the evidence of them is mostly deleted :)

I'll see if I can't find something.

overactor

@ArtOfCode Is Michael running?

You know what, I don't know :)

The current mods obviously have a good shot and HDE seems like a very strong candidate too

I think we've got a good selection to choose from, which is what's important

Tim B

08:21

Yep. I'd rather lose to a strong field than walk in because of a weak field...if that makes any sense?

@Nahshonpaz A lot of moderator work is "behind the scenes", and a bunch of that is not really shareable too like moderator messages to specific users etc.

Tim B

08:32

Also if you look at just one stat (for example flags handled) then one person looks more active than another. However you then look at things like meta posts and leaving comments the least active at flags has been the most active there.

ArtOfCode

@overactor You'd have to ask him, I know no more than you :)

overactor

Fair enough

Tim B

So far Monica and myself have both stood I think. No word from Vincent or Michael yet that I've seen

overactor

Can you quickly jump into the general chat btw @ArtOfCode?

ArtOfCode

@overactor Waaay ahead of you ;)

Nahshon paz

08:57

@TimB I realize and appreciate that. And so, to a large extent, a voter will rely on public comments/debates for info on a moderator's performance. I realize we're missing out on a lot of your actual work. Perhaps some of the private stuff can be shared (by user's and mod's consent) in some way? I'm not looking to pry, just for info.

ArtOfCode

@TimB if you've got any interesting examples from me, feel free to share.

Tim B

Personally I've no objection to the overview moderation stats being released...however I don't have authority to do so. Perhaps do a discussion post on meta and see if @GraceNote is willing for them to be released.

ArtOfCode

@TimB Ask in TL. There might be precedent, if you're lucky.

Tim B

a meta post by @Nahshonpaz is a better way to discuss the matter

since then the answer comes back directly to the person asking

for the record I've no complaints about any of the other mods on this site. Beyond that I'm not going to speak for them or about them, they can stand or not as they choose and write their platform as they choose :)

Tim B

09:26

Ok, 3 out of 4 existing mods have now thrown their hat in. Just one to declare.

It's gonna be a tough election, looking forwards to it. Hmm. Does anyone know if candidates get to vote?

ArtOfCode

Yes they do, and you can vote for yourself.

Tim B

09:45

ok, so it's worth me deciding who to vote for after me then :)

ArtOfCode

Yep :)

Tim B

10:06

how many candidates do most first elections get? We're up to 9 or 10 already

Just looked, 10. 11 if you count the guy who withdrew

ArtOfCode

Far fewer than us.

I Stanley

12:33

Not sure if I've missed it somewhere, but how many eventually get elected? 4 (same as current pro ten numbers)?

ArtOfCode

@IStanley 4, yeah

I Stanley

Thanks. I have to say, the vast majority of you candidates all look like you're certainly committed to doing a good job, which is a relief! I've been on the mod hiring side of things before and there's nothing worse than having to choose between a bad bunch.

ArtOfCode

@IStanley I've done the same... remind me never to volunteer to run administration for a gaming server again.

I Stanley

Haha, I was a community manager and a forum admin before I became a working parent with no time :P Not a phase in my life I'd ever want to repeat, though it was a great experience at the time.

ArtOfCode

Sounds like a great job :)

I Stanley

12:41

It had its ups and downs like any! Great when you're having fun, but I won't miss having to clean up the mess left behind by a bad hire. No matter how careful you are it's difficult to avoid hiring the odd bad egg who goes from being a good user to a terrible moderator. As soon as I lost interest in the game it was for I found it hard to keep up the enthusiasm, but 6 years is long enough to be involved in that kind of setup!

ArtOfCode

It is. I read somewhere the other day that moderators last on average 3 years on the Net.

bilbo_pingouin

sounds reasonable... usually you take on active duties are motivated...

and then life knocks at your door... even if sometimes it's more like knocks the door down.'.

I Stanley

That's where the 1 year terms come in I guess! You have to justify being rehired despite life changing rather than someone having to break it to you that you're being fired, which was always a rough job

ArtOfCode

@IStanley Mods are for life here, though. I actually think that's better, because then you can decide when it's time for you to quit, rather than someone else deciding.

I Stanley

13:14

@ArtOfCode Really? My understanding was that you did single year terms, must of misunderstood something somewhere. That's the system I'm used to, I've seen it go wrong more often than not. Frankly, people generally decide it's time to quit long after they've stopped being an effective moderator, myself included.

The "Hired till you quit" method, that is

Tim B

The current mods are all pro tem, appointed not elected

so we step down as pro tem mods after the election

whether we come back as elected mods is down to the election

once elected though then basically it's until you step down or something bad happens and you get fired (pretty rare but it has happened)

however further elections are held as needed to reinforce the moderator numbers

I Stanley

@TimB thanks, the further elections must have been where I got the wrong idea.

overactor

What if the mod starts to get very inactive?

bilbo_pingouin

@overactor I suppose the user might be asked in a more or less friendly way to step down by the CM. The more or less depends on how dramatic is the inactivity...

Tim B

Yeah I've honestly no idea how that's handled

Tim B

14:23

12 candidates now, and all of them solid. This is going to be really tough choices!

Make that 13 lol

bowlturner

I know! It's going to be hard making a choice

ArtOfCode

This'll be a good election. I'd bet the poor tems to start.

Heh, poor tems.

bowlturner

I just looked, 219 caucus badges have been awarded so far

Serban Tanasa

I'm opening a betting pool

Tim B

nearly 5% of people looking at the page are standing so far lol

actually more than 5%

Serban Tanasa

14:35

haha, well we're all heavy users

one might be tempted to say addicted

Eithne

I'm a new user, I don't know much about the site, but how many people can we vote?

Tim B

when we end up with more candidates than voters we've got problems :D

Serban Tanasa

my morning > check if trump won Iowa, go to worldbuilding

Tim B

@Eithne that depends on the stage

at the moment no-one can vote, it's just candidates getting a chance to put their name forwards and the questions for us all to answer being decided

then in the first stage you can vote (up or down) for as many candidates as you like one vote per voter per candidate

the top 10 from that go into the election

where you get a 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice

Eithne

Thank you very much

bilbo_pingouin

14:41

if we get by score, that would make HDE, bowlturner, TimB and Serban to be elected.

Serban Tanasa

I can't imagine Monica not winning a spot

TimB and HDE have both been extremely active too

so I see myself as competing for that 4th spot

bilbo_pingouin

well it's going to be tough... because generally the current mods have been doing a good job

and 3 out of 4 are in (so far)

ArtOfCode

I think I heard recently that something like only 2% of pro tems who ran didn't win their election

Tim B

I can believe it, I think competition is unusually strong here though

Monica Cellio

15:27

@overactor if a mod goes inactive the SE community managers will check in and might remove the person; that's happened. There is also a mechanism for a mod team to remove one of its members; this should be very rare but it's a failsafe for "something has gone very wrong on the team". I don't foresee either of these cases coming up here.

Wow, what an abundance of choices! We have a really strong slate and it's still day 1! It's going to be tough to decide who to vote for.

overactor

@MonicaCellio neither do I; but as a programmer, I'm interested in edge-cases, not reality.

Monica Cellio

@overactor of course. It's important to know how you'll handle a potentially-messy case while it's still abstract. In the middle of a crisis where people are going to take things personally is the worst time to work out process.

Here's the process, as documented on Meta.SE: meta.stackexchange.com/q/151606/162102

Folks might find this MSE post interesting, too. (Disclosure: that's my answer, so my opinions. :-) )

13

Q: What are the current goals of each of the election phases?

I have been watching the current election on SO extremely closely, and am participating in it as well. I have a number of thoughts and I am not sure if they are valid. I know others have had thoughts about various aspects of this election as well. To that end I think it's important to lay out som...

2

Serban Tanasa

@MonicaCellio, thanks, that does explain the purpose of the primaries better

Monica Cellio

@TimB I agree. If I don't win a seat it won't be a negative comment about me; we have many excellent choices.

Tim B

15:52

Yeah, with this field I don't think any of us is safe. Myself included.

DaaaahWhoosh

Is there any benefit to running for moderator if you don't get elected? I kind of want to nominate myself just because I know I won't win

Tim B

the experience of doing it?

DaaaahWhoosh

yeah, it seems like it'd be fun

Tim B

but no, there is no badge or anything for taking part that you don't get just by voting

there isn't even one for winning, although there is for being mod for a year

try that sede query, what candidate score do you get?

the one Ghanima posted

DaaaahWhoosh

@TimB oh, right, that one

sarcasm

but then I actually found it

Monica Cellio

15:58

@DaaaahWhoosh if you want to do the job, can commit to doing it, and think you're qualified, then nominate yourself. It's a big field so most candidates aren't going to win, but the outcome is far from certain, so feel free to add yourself to the mix.

Tim B

@DaaaahWhoosh It's in the starred links to the right

I can't recommend you go for it unless you actually want the job though :)

DaaaahWhoosh

@TimB That's the main reason I'm afraid of running, I'm banking on the fact that I'll lose :[

Tim B

probably not the best idea to run then :)

you can always run next time

Monica Cellio

@DaaaahWhoosh oh. Yeah, if you don't want the job, there's not much point in standing -- plus consider that you'll take up people's time evaluating you as a serious candidate. if you're a serious candidate then stand; if not, well, you'll learn plenty about elections by watching, too.

Serban Tanasa

Dunno if it's been posted already, but here are some data query stats on the current candidates: goo.gl/sWo5iO

Monica Cellio

16:17

This page, linked from the election page, is also pretty useful.

2

Serban Tanasa

@MonicaCellio, for those thinking about running, the query i posted above should be useful for determining one's "score".

@bowlturner, wow, 675 answers!

Tim B

that's a really nice page Monica, not seen it before

Serban Tanasa

@MonicaCellio, thanks for the page link, never thought to calculate my average reputation per post -- 89.8 isn't bad

Monica Cellio

@TimB all the elections get it. I think Tim Stone, the maintainer of SEDE, built it. (Not certain, but he seems to be the one who fields questions about it.)

@SerbanTanasa yeah, I have fewer posts (and lower rep) than many of the other candidates, but I have a good ratio. I make 'em count, apparently. :-)

Tim B

quite a few of the candidates have >70 rep per post, it's impressive

in fact a lot have >80

bilbo_pingouin

16:42

@MonicaCellio, I remember seeing some simpler query, and you're leader in WB in number of votes per post... with Serban second, I believe

@DaaaahWhoosh, I don't think I really stand a chance as well... but I would certainly be willing to do it. So I think that is a necessary condition. More than score, reputation, etc.

Monica Cellio

@bilbo_pingouin you're active, including on meta (which I personally think is really important), and you've made a lot of good contributions. I don't give too much credence to the candidate score on its own. And I'm not just saying that because mine is low due to rep. :-)

bowlturner

17:18

@SerbanTanasa yes. And I believe I've deleted at least 30 of my worst answers so far...

bilbo_pingouin

19:42

@MonicaCellio thanks, but seeing other profiles, I doubt I'll be popular enough to reach the top 4

DaaaahWhoosh

21:13

@bilbo_pingouin At this rate, I don't see how anyone can reach the top 4. It's at least a seven-way tie in my mind.

well, maybe a six-way tie

but I'm probably forgetting someone

bilbo_pingouin

Well I think 3 are pretty clear. The 4th place is the most opened

actually, the problem is that the regular users, which are composed of the 13 candidates plus a few others like yourself, can be predictable

DaaaahWhoosh

predictable how?

bilbo_pingouin

but we don't know what participation we will get... and those know the people much less, so I'm not sure which image they have from each of the candidates

DaaaahWhoosh

yeah, I think differing perspectives are really going to matter here. And newer users really could sway the vote in unpredictable ways

bilbo_pingouin

@DaaaahWhoosh well, I might be mistaken, but if the vote were limited to people who wrote in this chat, I don't see how Monica would failed to get a spot. We all know how active she is, and how valuable are each of her posts. However for the many newer(-ish) members who rarely go to meta, never to the chat, never heard of the blog, etc. I don't know which image they have of her.

HDE 226868

21:21

I feel like if I was a newer member, I wouldn't be able to vote well. There's just so much to take into account. Chat, meta, reviews, blog, main site. . .

bowlturner

I think most people who don't really know people in the running will generally either vote incumbents, or those with the highest numbers. Some might actually read all the stuff and make an informed decision.

just like in real life...

DaaaahWhoosh

@bowlturner Informed decisions are for idiots

bilbo_pingouin

exactly. To some extend, we can imagine that there are 30-40 users who "know". Meaning, they knew of all the candidates before their names appeared on the list, know the activity on chat, blog, meta, reviews...

but for the others, I don't know what will be the key factor. And they're probably the ones deciding in the end

bowlturner

Ya, sound bites sell.

DaaaahWhoosh

I guess the silver lining is that most of the candidates would probably be good moderators. I'm not worried that we'll elect a bad team, it's just optimization at this point

bowlturner

21:26

Right, to many good people in the running to accidentally get a dud.

DaaaahWhoosh

unless I nominate myself and unleash my stockpiles of clickbait questions

HDE 226868

Oh, dear. Bring on the HNQ to @DaaaahWhoosh.

bilbo_pingouin

That's actually true. I'd be fine with essentially any combination amongst the candidates. I'd just be better if I'd be one of them ;-)

HDE 226868

@bilbo_pingouin Her nomination seems to be the strongest. I hope she wins.

Plus, she's, like, everywhere.

bilbo_pingouin

That's what I meant. You know that. I do too. But how about users with 400-500 rep?

bowlturner

21:30

Yes, Monica is really the strongest candidate, just not obvious from her WB profile.

HDE 226868

@bilbo_pingouin Dartboards, maybe?

bilbo_pingouin

Possibly!

That's why it makes it hard to actually guess who's going to win.

HDE 226868

The primary might help that, although it didn't seem to help predictions on SF&F.

DaaaahWhoosh

my guess is it'll be 2 current mods and 2 non-mods. I actually think I just decided who I'm voting for

Monica Cellio

@bowlturner @HDE226868 @bilbo_pingouin joke's gonna be on you if I don't win a seat. :-) Seriously, I'm surprised (but gratified) by this reaction; yes I'm active in lots of different ways, but low rep means low candidate score, so I really have no idea what will matter to most voters.

DaaaahWhoosh

21:36

@MonicaCellio If you want some rep, I've been thinking about getting the Benefactor badge

bowlturner

I know, but I think it would be a loss not to have you as one of the mod team. Can't hurt that many of the other candidates are pulling for you! ;)

HDE 226868

For me, predicting the result will be just a crapshoot. I know who I'll vote for, but I have no idea who other people (especially newer users) will vote for.

Monica Cellio

@DaaaahWhoosh I'm not fishing. If you think my posts are worthy then apply whatever tools you think appropriate, but it's not like I'm going to be joining the 20k league soon and I'm ok with that.

@HDE226868 yeah, I think trying to predict is just fruitless. I'll be looking at all the candidates with an eye toward my votes, but nothing more.

The community will decide, after all.

bilbo_pingouin

@HDE226868 oh, I did not go back to actually check the final outcome of the election on SFF. In any case due to the user base and age of the site, it would be hard to extrapolate from them...

HDE 226868

@bilbo_pingouin I only found out about it ~10 minutes ago.

bilbo_pingouin

21:42

I just had a look... from memory, Null was pretty high in the primary part, but rand'al thor wasn't that high...

HDE 226868

^ Yeah, that's what I had thought.

DaaaahWhoosh

I'd have thought that SFF would have a lot more mods, since they're so big

bilbo_pingouin

how many do they have actually?

ArtOfCode

@bilbo_pingouin 5, I think.

HDE 226868

5.

bilbo_pingouin

21:45

the elections was to replaced two leaving mods

HDE 226868

Damn, I was ninja'd.

ArtOfCode

Yeah 5

bilbo_pingouin

Gilles...

ArtOfCode

@bilbo_pingouin Gilles stopped modding SFF a while back.

HDE 226868

Was it Keen and Richard?

bilbo_pingouin

21:47

"@Gilles and @Keen" in the speech of alexwlchan

17

A: 2016 Community Moderator Election Results

Congratulations to our new moderators! As a defeated candidate, I send congratulations to both rand al'thor and Null. I wish you and the entire community the best. I’m sure you’ll both work for the good of the site. I can’t imagine this is an easy role to take on – good luck to you and our entir...

HDE 226868

That was more because Gilles deleted his account, I thought.

bilbo_pingouin

I would assume the guy knows what he is talking about

hm... might be

HDE 226868

Anyway, let's not go into those waters. This election is supposed to be an 'appy occasion!

bilbo_pingouin

yes, ours is more like a happy little family...

ArtOfCode

Indeed. SFF's election has had enough drama to last the rest of the network several years, I'm sure we can manage without :)

bilbo_pingouin

21:50

with pink roses

Monica Cellio

Yes, SFF is its own site with its own election-related chat rooms; let's keep this room for things about our election.

HDE 226868

@DaaaahWhoosh It should be interesting if you win.

DaaaahWhoosh

@HDE226868 It would be REALLY interesting now, since I haven't nominated myself yet... but yeah, I'm starting to wonder if I should throw in with the others.

The only thing stopping me is that based on experimental results, I've decided I should avoid power at all costs

bilbo_pingouin

@DaaaahWhoosh does it make you fat?

DaaaahWhoosh

@bilbo_pingouin Probably not, though I would say it does make me feel gross

bam! multilingual pun!

ArtOfCode

22:03

holds head in hands

bilbo_pingouin

ah ah ah. But now you got me curious.... damn you ;)

bowlturner

He practices his evil cow laugh in front of the mirror. contemplating WORLD DOMINATION!

bilbo_pingouin

isn't that a sane activity?

bowlturner

well, yes.

But @DaaaahWhoosh is new to it I think.

DaaaahWhoosh

@bowlturner New to evil cow laughs?

bowlturner

22:07

See what I mean? :)

DaaaahWhoosh

I think I completely lost the train of this conversation

ArtOfCode

I lost the taxi of it.

DaaaahWhoosh

also, moo ha ha ha?

bowlturner

See, you need more practice

Muuhaahahaha

DaaaahWhoosh

MooooOOOO ha ha HA! Ha ha. HA ha ha HA ha, ha HA!

bowlturner

22:11

shakes head In front of the mirror, in your room...

HDE 226868

Prime moderator material, this one. :-)

DaaaahWhoosh

Vote for me, and I'll make death-lasers the fortnightly topic challenge EVERY FORTNIGHT!

bilbo_pingouin

Well that would be boring. You need some variety

but the theme is all right though ;-)

Serban Tanasa

22:41

Hmm, Very Mooving conversation here

Monica Cellio

And you're going to milk that for all it's worth, aren't you? I'm in udder shock.

bowlturner

Quit chewing the cud! This is for Mod Elections! No Bull! or umm.

HDE 226868

The voters are going to have a cow if they see this. . .

Serban Tanasa

Hilarity is climbing to ga-Lactic proportions here

DaaaahWhoosh

23:42

I have a beef with all these puns in the election chatroom. The steaks are too high to be making such jokes.

ArtOfCode

Oink oink.

DaaaahWhoosh

Sow... pig puns?

actually, I might be pronouncing that wrong

HDE 226868

@TimB Sorry to bug you, but do you have any feedback on my stars answer?

Transcript for

2016 Worldbuilding Moderator Election